


Unexpected Savior

by EtherealWaffle



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: Eventual Smut, F/F, Fluff, Nightmares, Sharing a Bed
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-23
Updated: 2016-06-22
Packaged: 2018-07-16 17:48:50
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7277821
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EtherealWaffle/pseuds/EtherealWaffle
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"A small sigh escapes the older woman’s lips and she relaxes into Emma’s front, unconsciously pulling Emma’s hand farther around her."<br/>-------------------------------------------<br/>So... this is my first go at a cute Swan Queen fanfic, so tell me what you think!<br/>Oh, and in other words, the one where Emma needs a place to crash other than her parents' after her place floods, and helps Regina with her nightmares...</p>
            </blockquote>





	Unexpected Savior

“2 weeks… 2 weeks?!” Emma grumbled. She wanted to scream, why did her house have to flood  _ now _ ? She had finally gotten home from a long day of work. It was 11 p.m. and the only thing she had on her mind was sleep, but apparently all the pipes in her house decided to burst together, leaving her with no running water and damaged floors. She had checked the website of the local plumber, and found that the estimated time of repairs for something this extensive would be 2 weeks. Maybe being the sheriff she could use her status to move it along some... But that would be a problem for tomorrow. For now she might as well find somewhere to go for the night with running water and preferably no indoor swimming pool. 

~ 

~

~

Emma doesn’t know why she’s standing in front of the door on Mifflin Street. She doesn’t know why she chose Regina’s house over her parents’. Well actually she does does, she can handle her little brother, Neal, for at most 10 hours. The constant doting and affection Snow and David show him always sends a pang of jealousy through her, jealousy of not growing up like that, but she wouldn’t want her life to have been any different, and she loves the little guy. It would be hypocritical of her to judge her parents for such things when she herself has done the same to him. But the loft is overcrowded, what with Snow having recruited Henry to watch Baby Neal. Three people and a little baby in one place can get a little hectic, Emma doesn’t want to add to the stressful conditions

 

“The worst thing that could happen is Regina slams the door in my face before I even open my mouth,” Emma figures. She looks at the elegant, carved, white door with a gilded “108” staring right at her and lifts a shaky hand to the door bell. Emma inhales a couple shaky breaths and exhales deeply, not so sure why she’s suddenly so nervous. She’s talked to this woman practically every day since the moment she arrived in Storybrooke. Mentally preparing herself for the door to open, she closes her eyes until she hears the soft  _ whoosh  _ of the door swinging open. She opens her eyes to see Regina standing in front of her with a limpid black robe pulled around her body. Her hair let down and a little messy, yet still somehow so graceful, like it was purposely styled in that way. Emma tried not to flinch when she saw the cold stare Regina was giving her, but must’ve failed when she saw the other woman’s eyes soften.

“Is there any reason you’ve shown up on my doorstep at - ,“ Regina checks her wrist, only to find tan skin, “ such a late hour, Miss Swan?”

Emma smiles softly at the lame cover up, and tries for a light approach, “I was thinking a late night movie?”

Regina glares at her, “It’s a weeknight, and you want a slumber party? I’m afraid I’ll have to pass.” She starts to close the door, but Emma steps forward slightly and puts her hand out.

“Wait, I’m sorry - look, it’s just - ,“ she sighs nervously, “my place flooded, and there’s no running water and I was wondering if I could possibly, maybe… stay with you until everything gets fixed?”

The brunette stared at her a moment, something Emma couldn’t identify flashing in her eyes. Pity? No. Excitement? Definitely not. Before she could put her finger on it, Regina chuckled and looked at her musingly, “You couldn’t have gone to your parents?”

Emma looked down, “I thought about it, but there’s so many people there and I thought I shouldn’t put even more strain on them.” She traces the outline of the Welcome mat with her eyes and finally looks up to meet Regina’s eyes. “I definitely understand if you don’t want me around, I can go get a room at Granny’s. Hopefully she’ll still be up.” She says the last part more to herself than Regina.

“Nonsense, dear. Of course you can stay here, Henry would kill me if he knew I sent you away to some cheap hotel,” Regina stepped back and pulled the door open wider. 

Regina yawned, bringing a hand to cover her mouth, “Are you waiting for a formal invitation, Miss Swan?” When Emma hesitated a second before walking through the door and stopping a few feet from Regina. She looked around at the antiques adorning the walls and smelled cinnamon, like from apple pie. It reminded Emma of one of the houses she had been adopted into, one of the truly good ones that could’ve actually meant something to her if they hadn’t had one of their own and decided they didn’t need her anymore. 

“If you’d like to follow me? I’ll show you to the guest room,” Regina said pulling Emma out of her bitter memory lane. They walked single file up the stairs, Emma walking 2 steps behind Regina, trying not to watch the sway of her hips and soft curve of her… She shook her head, “God, I’m tired,” she mumbles. Regina glances back, raising a questioning eyebrow and steps off the last step to the landing.

“Shower?” she questions, walking to a hall closet Emma never knew was there. She opens the door and leans up on her toes, reaching for towels on the top shelf. The sleeves of her robe slide down her arms and the night shirt beneath her robe lifts up with her arms. Emma glances down at the smooth expanse of tan skin under the dark blue silk. “I take your silence as a-,” she cuts off, noticing Emma staring.

“Y-yeah, yeah. Thanks,” Emma takes the towels she held out to her and looks down at her feet again, then the walls, anywhere where she wouldn’t catch Regina’s dark brown eyes. 

“Did you bring any shampoo or body wash?” Regina asks.

“Oh… no I didn’t think to,” Emma mumbles, finally looking Regina in the eye.

“Well no worries, Miss Swan, you may use- what?” she says when Emma frowns slightly.

“You don’t need to call me Miss Swan,  _ Madame Mayor,  _ I thought we were past the whole ‘Miss Swan’ thing anyway.”, Emma makes mock a pout face.

“Fine,  _ Emma _ , you may borrow my soaps and whatever else you may need,” she walks to an open door way and steps to the side, allowing Emma to walk in 

first. In the room, Emma glances around, it was quaint, with a cool theme. 

The walls were a light blue and the bed was against the wall across the door with a dark blue comforter and white sheets that looked more expensive than anything Emma would have bought herself to just  _ sleep  _ on. In the left corner is a small desk with a leather cushioned chair tucked underneath.

“I’ll go get your shower ready, dear. You can set down your things and I’ll call you when the water is warm.” Regina told her, already setting off down the hall to her the bathroom in the master bedroom. Humming softly, Emma turns into the room and walks over to the small desk. It’s ornate carvings create a feather-like pattern down the faces of the even smaller drawers on the left side, Emma traces the nearest drawer with a light finger. She sets down her purse on the chair and lays down her bag next to it, squatting down to zip it open. She pulls out a light green tank top and small black boy shorts, setting them aside to dig through for her tooth brush, tooth paste, brush, and lotion. 

Emma turns her head at the sound of Regina’s voice calling down the hallway, “The water is ready, Emma. Hurry up before the hot water runs out.” Emma scoffs softly, like the mayor wouldn’t make sure her house was properly set up for sufficient hot water to take like 5 hour long luxurious showers. But Emma just shouts a quick “Coming!” before gathering up her things and walking down the hall, following the sound of running water before arriving at the entrance to the master bedroom. Emma had never actually been in Regina’s room before, it was a peaceful type of elegance. The curtains were black velvet, and a medium sized cherry wood desk sat in front of the windows, overlooking Regina’s most prized apple tree. A queen sized bed was against the far wall, with decorative pillows laying around the sides, the sheets and comforter pulled back in the corner on what must have been Regina’s side of the bed. The bed clothes looked impossibly expensive, black sheets with mahogany red covers. 

The brunette stood in the doorway of the bathroom, looking at Emma curiously. “I’ve just never seen your bedroom before,” Emma shrugged. She must have had her mouth open the whole time or something, Regina was looking at her so weird. 

“Right,” Regina smirks with a slight nod of her head. She steps aside as Emma walks up to her, then into the bathroom. “Well, I’ll hopefully be asleep by the time you get out, so if you need anything - don’t,” her voice was light but Emma sensed she half meant it and instantly felt guilty for coming at such a late hour. 

“Thanks again, I’ll try to stay as quiet as possible,” she replies with a half grin. The bathroom matched the bedroom with expensive-elegance-esque style. The granite counter ran the length of the bathroom with a white marble sink in the middle that had a rose-gold faucet and tap. Emma turns to the shower, the glass door went all the way to ceiling. The water running felt warm, Regina would obviously know the best way to get the perfect temperature. Looking back to make sure the door was shut, Emma slipped off her tank and wiggled out of her skinny jeans and stepped under the warm spray. She looked in the corner where Regina kept her products in a niche in the wall and a washcloth hanging over a bar under it. She picked up a shampoo bottle, she must have this stuff imported into Storybrooke, Emma has never seen this brand at the local shops. Its smell reminded her of summer nights spent in a type of apple orchard, whoever created this scent should get a raise, Emma had never smelled something so tantalizing. She poured a quarter sized amount into her palm and put her hands together before massaging it into her hair. Rinsing the lather out of her hair, she closed her heavy eyes and struggled to reopen them to get the conditioner. After rinsing the conditioner out of her hair as well, she reached for the washcloth and body wash, which was lightly apple scented. “Regina must have a thing about apples,” Emma chuckles to herself, thinking about the apple tree as well. 

~

 

~

Emma felt like a little kid again when she was dreading getting out of the shower, she didn’t like getting in but once she was in it was hard to get back out. She hasn’t had a shower like that in a long time, but she figured she should get to sleep soon. Her eyelids felt heavier after suddenly realizing it was probably pretty late. Quickly brushing her teeth and hair, then moisturizing, she steps into her pajama shorts and pulls on her tank top. She turns off the light so when she opens the door the bedroom won’t be flooded with it, then turning the doorknob slightly and pulling it towards her slowly to test the hinges, she decides it’s not going to make any kind of noise and opens it all the way. The lights are off now and she can hear the soft inhales and exhales of a sleeping Regina coming from the darkness. She steps out and feels her way to the other door and quickens her pace to her own room before letting out the breath she had been holding. The bed looks so inviting now, so Emma drops her things unceremoniously next to her bag and flops down in the middle of the bed, simultaneously pulling her feet up and pulling down the covers to slip underneath. 

~ 

~

Her sleep had been peaceful, so Emma had a difficult and hazy time of figuring out why she had been awoken. She turns her head to the side table where she must’ve put her phone before she fell asleep and checks the time: 3:23 a.m. She rubs her hand down her face and checks again, yep still 3:23. She’s already falling back asleep when she hears it, it sounded like someone crying out but really softly. She listens again and hears only the now eery silence surrounding her. It happens again. Deciding it would be best now to go investigate than to try and fall asleep now since her heart is racing, she drags her feet to the edge of the bed and stands up, waiting a minute to let her body catch up with the sudden burst of activity. The hallway is just as quiet as she walks down the hall to the door of Regina’s room, pausing to confirm this is where the soft sounds are coming from. “No… stop… mom… please…” it almost breaks her heart hearing the vulnerability in Regina’s voice. 

  
  


_ Regina _

Regina stands in a sea of long flowing grass and gentle slopes identifying it as her favorite meadow in the Enchanted Forest. Her horse, Rocinante, stands behind her while her mother towers over her looking angrier than she’s seen of her in quite a while. 

“What have I told you about this little hobby of yours, Regina?” Cora demands of her.

“But mother, I thought since I - ,” she’s cut off by a sharp slap to her right cheek and tears spring in her eyes. Her mother has never been one to resort to physical punishment before, although Regina had secretly been afraid of the day it would happen. “Mother!” she gasps, stifling a sob in the process.

Cora raises her hand to strike again, time seems to slow down while Regina stares wide eyed and trembling and bracing for the inevitable. But it doesn’t happen. Instead, she feels a gentle hand on her upper arm and the meadow melts away to a peaceful, soothing darkness.

 

_ Emma _

The soft whimpers stopped the moment Emma put her hand on Regina’s arm to try and wake the sleeping woman. Her skin was ice cold so Emma thought she’d be nice and pulled the blankets up to her chin, tucking it under her back a little, just in case. She turned away to head back to the guest room when she felt a hand on her wrist, “Regina?” her whisper was just above audible.

“Can you - would you mind terribly if I asked you to stay with me… just for a few minutes?” was the even softer reply. 

“Oh… uh sure thing-” 

“It’s just that, whenever Henry wakes me up from a nightmare, he crawls into bed with me to make sure I got back to sleep fine and it’s really sweet of him to look out for me like that and…” Regina is rambling and Emma feels her lips twitch into a smile, it’s hard not to find that utterly adorable.

“Regina,” she says gently, “I said sure thing, I don’t mind.”

She hears a shuffling of the sheets and Regina lifts the blanket for Emma to crawl into bed, while moving to make room for her. The spot Regina just occupied is still warm despite the fact that her arm was just freezing mere seconds ago. Emma pulls the blanket to her face and stretches her body out and sighs contently, this bed really is fit for a queen. Or former queen, that is.  She can sense Regina unsuccessfully trying to get back to sleep. “Do you… want to talk about it, maybe it would help?” Emma ventures, turning to her side to face Regina.

“That’s quite alright, dear. I’m use to it by now,” she murmurs, her voice seeming closer than Emma thought it would be, but she can tell Regina has her back to her.

“Are you sure? You seem to have forgotten I know when people are lying,” she replies, hoping she hasn’t crossed a line. Also hoping she won’t be kicked out for being too chatty. This bed is seriously comfy. But all she hears in response is slow, even breathing. How’d Regina fall asleep so fast? 

Emma wakes up for the second time that night, blinking and confused. Where was she? Oh, right. Regina’s bed. A blush creeps onto her cheeks. It feels too intimate in the dark, to be thinking about being in another woman’s bed so late at night. Familiar soft whimpering brings her back to the reason she was woken up. She scoots closer to the brunette, putting an arm out to reach around to Regina’s but she overestimates how far away she is and ends up with her arm draped over the other womans waist. Regina seemed to be right on top of her, but just an inch away from pressing up against her. A small sigh escapes the older woman’s lips and she relaxes into Emma’s front, unconsciously pulling Emma’s hand farther around her. She didn’t know how to get out of this position without waking the sleeping woman, so she just wrapped her arm more snugly across her waist, adjusting her body to fit behind Regina and dropped her head softly back onto the pillow, breathing in apple scented hair.

**Author's Note:**

> If there's anything you want to see happen after Emma and Regina wake up in the morning, feel free to suggest it :)  
> (be gentle with any criticism, I'm open to working on anything that needs improved, but only if you aren't rude about it c; )


End file.
